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PC shipments hit a new low, while tablets are on the rise

Yesterday saw the release of several key marketing reports from various research firms, and they were not favorable for the PC market.

PC sales sunk to the greatest decline in purchases since 1994, that’s when they were first recorded by IDC. In the first-quarter alone global computer shipments dropped 14% when compared to last year, this is according to International Data Corp. who has carefully studied PC global shipments for almost two decades now. There was only to be an expected 7.7% decline in shipments.

This isn’t just a fluke either, this is the fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year shipment declines for PCs. Windows 8 was expected to bolster PC sales this quarter, and although it failed to boost numbers, tablets seem to be thriving.

According to IDC the drop can be contributed to a few factors, small laptops being replaced with tablets, poor netbook sales and a higher priority of consumer spending going towards smartphones.

Windows 8 put a lot of focus on touchscreen capabilities, which is great if you can buy a new touchscreen interface laptop, for those of use that can’t, then Windows 8 could give off the impression that it wasn’t made for your setup. Bob O’Donnell, an analyst at IDC stated, “People think they have to have touch, and they go look at the price points for these touch machines, and they are above where they want to be and they say, ‘I guess I’ll wait,'”.

Jay Chou, senior research analyst with the IDC stated, “Users are finding Windows 8 to offer a compromised experience that doesn’t excel either as a new mobile interface or in a classic desktop interface”. Chou continued, “As a result, many users find a decline in the traditional PC experience without gaining much from new features like touch”

Hewlett-Packard is still the largest PC supplier, but even that title came with a 24% decline in sales for this quarter, Lenovo Group took second place globally but only managed to land flat for the quarter. For a comparison, Apple PC sales saw a 7.5% slump in shipments as well, which is being contributed to the rise of iPad sales.